Financial Controller Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Financial Controllers, Assistant Financial Controllers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-FM-090

Before you join: Participants should understand double-entry accounting, core financial statements, accruals, prepayments and basic budgeting concepts.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Financial controllers sit between the ledger, operating teams, executive management and external assurance. They must close reliably, explain results without delay, protect cash and working capital, and spot control failures before they become misstated accounts, missed covenants or avoidable loss. The role also requires judgement: deciding which variance matters, challenging weak assumptions, and turning accounting data into decisions on pricing, investment, staffing and cost.

This course develops the financial control, reporting and business-partnering skills required to manage an effective finance function. Participants work through IFRS reporting responsibilities, month-end close discipline, balance-sheet substantiation, management reporting, forecasting, budgeting, cash control, cost analysis and internal control design. They learn to use variance bridges, driver-based forecasts, risk-control matrices, cash forecasts and profitability analysis to identify issues early and present clear recommendations to senior stakeholders.

Delivered over five instructor-led days in a classroom or live online, the course combines focused briefings with financial cases, reporting simulations, group analysis and structured application planning. Participants leave with a practical financial controller toolkit: templates and checklists that can be adapted to their own reporting cycle, control environment and improvement priorities. A certificate of completion is awarded to participants who complete the course.

The course suits finance professionals moving into controller responsibilities, as well as established controllers seeking a more disciplined approach to reporting quality, finance process improvement and decision support.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply IFRS reporting requirements and accounting-policy judgement to financial reporting issues
  • Produce a controlled month-end close plan with reconciliations, reviews and escalation points
  • Build management reports using variance analysis, KPI definitions and performance bridges
  • Analyse cash flow, working capital and liquidity risks using a 13-week forecast
  • Design driver-based budgets and rolling forecasts linked to operational assumptions
  • Evaluate profitability, cost allocation and pricing decisions using management accounting methods
  • Strengthen internal controls through risk-control matrices, segregation analysis and control testing
  • Lead a prioritised finance improvement plan with owners, milestones and benefit measures

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence challenging balances, assumptions and unexplained financial movements
  • A clearer route from accounting work to financial controller responsibility
  • Practical methods for shortening and improving the month-end close
  • Stronger ability to explain financial performance to non-finance managers
  • Reusable tools for identifying control weaknesses and improvement priorities

For your organisation

  • More timely, accurate and decision-focused financial reporting
  • Earlier detection of reconciliation issues, control failures and reporting risks
  • Improved cash visibility through disciplined working-capital and liquidity analysis
  • Better forecasting quality through operational drivers and scenario testing
  • Prioritised finance improvements with clear ownership and measurable benefits

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define the controller remit, accountabilities and priorities within a finance function.

  • Controller mandate, CFO partnership and finance operating model accountabilities
  • RACI matrix separating controllership, FP&A, treasury and business ownership
  • Materiality thresholds directing review effort, escalation and management attention
  • Finance calendar linking close, forecast, board reporting and statutory deadlines
  • Service-level measures for close timeliness, accuracy, cost and stakeholder satisfaction
  • Root-cause analysis distinguishes process defects, policy gaps and capability constraints
  • Controller ethics, confidentiality and professional scepticism in sensitive reporting

Participants can apply reporting requirements and document material accounting judgements.

  • IFRS Accounting Standards and local GAAP reporting obligations
  • IAS 1 presentation requirements for primary statements and disclosures
  • Accounting policy papers documenting judgements, estimates and evidence
  • Revenue recognition review using IFRS 15 five-step model
  • Lease accounting controls under IFRS 16 measurement requirements
  • Impairment indicators and cash-generating unit testing under IAS 36
  • Related-party disclosures, going-concern assessment and subsequent-events reporting requirements
  • Disclosure checklists reconcile notes, ledgers and supporting schedules

Participants can manage a controlled close process and substantiate material balance-sheet accounts.

  • Close calendar sequences cut-off, reconciliations, reviews and consolidation milestones
  • Balance-sheet substantiation assigns preparers, reviewers, ageing and resolution dates
  • Journal-entry controls address approvals, support, posting rights and unusual entries
  • Cut-off testing traces transactions around period end to source evidence
  • Intercompany matching resolves differences before consolidation elimination entries
  • Flux analysis explains material movements against prior period and budget
  • Close dashboard tracks status, bottlenecks, late adjustments and recurring errors

Participants can produce management reporting that explains performance and supports decisions.

  • Management reporting packs connect financial results, drivers, risks and decisions
  • Variance analysis separates price, volume, mix, efficiency and timing effects
  • Bridge charts explain EBITDA movement from plan to actual results
  • Balanced Scorecard links financial measures with customer, process and people indicators
  • KPI definitions specify calculation logic, data owner, frequency and thresholds
  • Segment reporting assesses profitability by product, customer, channel or location
  • Management commentary distinguishes facts, assumptions, actions and unresolved risks

Participants can create driver-based plans and challenge forecast assumptions effectively.

  • Driver-based budgets translate operational assumptions into financial plans
  • Rolling forecasts refresh revenue, cost and working-capital assumptions monthly
  • Scenario analysis tests base, downside and upside cases
  • Zero-based budgeting challenges cost purpose, ownership and required service levels
  • Forecast bias reviews compare prior estimates with actual outcomes
  • Budget governance defines approval limits, change controls and accountability
  • Planning models reconcile headcount, capacity, pricing and capital expenditure

Participants can assess liquidity exposure and improve control over working capital.

  • 13-week rolling cash forecasts combine receipts, payroll, tax and supplier payments
  • Working-capital metrics interpret DSO, DPO, inventory days and cash-conversion cycle
  • Receivables ageing targets collection actions, credit holds and dispute resolution
  • Payment-run controls balance liquidity, supplier terms and authorised disbursements
  • Bank reconciliations investigate stale items, fraud indicators and timing differences
  • Liquidity scenarios quantify covenant headroom and short-term funding needs
  • Cash concentration and intercompany funding policies set treasury boundaries

Participants can assess costs and profitability to support commercial and operational decisions.

  • Cost allocation bases reflect causality, materiality and controllability
  • Standard costing separates material, labour and overhead variances
  • Activity-based costing identifies cost drivers and unprofitable service lines
  • Contribution analysis supports pricing, product mix and make-or-buy decisions
  • Transfer-pricing policies document charges, mark-ups and intercompany service evidence
  • Profitability waterfalls reveal discounting, rebates, returns and servicing costs
  • Cost-centre reviews distinguish committed, discretionary and avoidable expenditure

Participants can identify financial control risks and specify proportionate control responses.

  • COSO framework maps control environment, risks, activities, information and monitoring
  • Risk-control matrices link assertions, threats, controls, evidence and owners
  • Segregation-of-duties analysis identifies incompatible access and compensating controls
  • Entity-level controls cover governance, delegation, policy compliance and reporting
  • Control testing documents population, sample, exception, conclusion and remediation
  • Fraud-risk assessment addresses override, vendor fraud and revenue manipulation
  • Internal audit coordination tracks findings, action owners and closure evidence

Participants can improve financial data reliability through system and spreadsheet controls.

  • Chart-of-accounts design supports reporting dimensions, consolidation and drill-down analysis
  • Master-data governance controls customers, suppliers, products and cost centres
  • Data lineage traces reported figures from source systems to disclosures
  • Excel control techniques use locked formulas, checks, versioning and audit trails
  • ERP workflow configurations enforce approvals, tolerances and posting restrictions
  • Exception reports focus review on anomalies, overrides and aged reconciling items
  • Data-quality scorecards monitor completeness, validity, timeliness and consistency

Participants can prioritise finance improvements and create an action plan for implementation.

  • Close-process mapping identifies handoffs, rework, waiting time and control gaps
  • Lean waste analysis targets duplication, overprocessing, defects and unnecessary approvals
  • Prioritisation matrix ranks improvements by risk reduction, value, effort and urgency
  • SMART action plans assign milestones, owners, measures and governance forums
  • Stakeholder communication frames changes around decisions, controls and service impacts
  • Benefits tracking compares expected savings, cycle-time gains and error reduction
  • Personal 90-day plan converts course methods into controller priorities

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Month-end close calendar template
  2. Balance-sheet substantiation checklist
  3. Management reporting pack structure
  4. 13-week rolling cash forecast model
  5. Risk-control matrix template
  6. Finance improvement action plan

Who should attend

  • Financial Controllers — build stronger reporting, control and business-partnering discipline
  • Assistant Financial Controllers — prepare for broader ownership of close and reporting processes
  • Finance Managers — improve financial governance, forecasting and performance reporting
  • Management Accountants — connect analysis and planning work to controller responsibilities
  • Senior Accountants — move from transaction processing into review, control and reporting roles
  • Finance Business Partners — strengthen financial challenge and decision-support capability

Skills and tools covered

Financial reporting controlMonth-end close managementCash flow forecastingManagement performance analysisInternal control designFinance process improvement

Tools and standards

COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework, IFRS Accounting Standards, IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements, Balanced Scorecard

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish methods and standards, followed by financial reporting cases, group analysis and structured simulations. Participants interpret management accounts, investigate close issues, build forecast assumptions, assess control gaps and prepare recommendations for finance leaders. Examples reflect common controller challenges such as late reconciliations, unexplained variances, cash pressure, weak approval trails and inconsistent reporting definitions. Facilitated discussion compares approaches across participant organisations. Application planning helps each participant select practical actions for their own finance function.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand double-entry accounting, core financial statements, accruals, prepayments and basic budgeting concepts. Experience in accounting, management accounting, financial reporting, audit, treasury or finance operations is expected, ideally with exposure to month-end activities or management reporting. Participants should be comfortable reading an income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. Prior controller experience is not required. Detailed knowledge of IFRS, ERP configuration, internal audit methods or advanced Excel modelling is not required, as the course introduces the relevant methods before applying them.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic accounting, financial statements and common month-end concepts. Prior financial controller experience and detailed IFRS knowledge are not required.

Bring a laptop if attending online and, where permitted, examples of non-confidential reporting packs, close checklists or recurring finance issues. Course materials and templates are provided.

It is designed for financial controllers, assistant controllers, finance managers, management accountants and senior accountants. It is particularly useful for professionals taking on wider reporting and control responsibility.

Accounting standards courses focus primarily on technical recognition, measurement and disclosure requirements. This course addresses the controller's wider remit: close management, reporting, cash, controls, planning and finance improvement.

Participants can adapt the close calendar, cash forecast, risk-control matrix and improvement plan to their own finance function. The methods support immediate review of recurring issues such as late reconciliations, weak variance explanations and unreliable forecasts.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, financial cases, group analysis, simulations and application planning across the ten modules.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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